Unwelcome
by FanNotANerd
Summary: They were warned.


**I wrote this on Halloween night, after watching one too many episodes of Extreme Ghost Stories. My summary was true. They were warned. And so are you.**

The smell of the grave was never a pleasant one. A dank, cloying scent it was, laced with threads of cold earth and decay.

It created a hideous, oppressive atmosphere, as if the walls were closing in from all sides, regardless of how large it was.

A wolf's enhanced senses only made it worse.

Link crept through the dank labyrinth of passageways that made up the Arbiter's ground, trying in vain to pierce the blackness. His paws slipped in the fine, grainy sand that covered the floor, only Midna's steady urging leading him deeper into the ancient prison.

The light had faded long ago, once Link had left the first chamber behind. Once he had proceeded into the deeper levels, that darkness had become an impenetrable cloak, far more than a simple absence of light. It had become an absolute blackness, that awakened primal fears deep within him.

Every now and then, his shuffling paws uncovered something - a copper bowl here, a petrified lance shaft there.

Something clinked under Link's paw. He glanced down, barely able to discern its shape. A child's doll, a tiny figure made of porcelain. Its unblinking, artificial gaze was fixed on a point over Link's shoulder.

The fur on the back of Link's neck rose in fear. Something reflected in the doll's eyes…

He glanced back over his shoulder. Nothing. He forced himself to chuckle, chiding himself for his stupidity. Of course it was nothing. Finding something as strange as a doll had unsettled him. That was all.

Something drew his gaze back to the doll. He fought the path of his eyes, some instinct screaming against it. But his eyes moved as of their own free will, onto the doll's.

The blank glass eyes were now focused directly on his.

Link jumped back, suppressing a surprised yelp, jumping again at the clatter of metal. He slowly turned, shaking, to find out what he'd bumped up against. It was a door. An ancient, rusted metal hulk, set into the stone wall.

It was a door one would expect to see in a cell block. _Of course it is,_ Link told himself. _The Arbiter's Ground is a prison. Prisons have cells. Nothing to worry about…_

He backed away from the cell door, struggling to pierce the gloom. A soft light, almost impossible to see, had begun illuminating the corridor. Except it wasn't a corridor. It was a full prison block. Cell after cell lined the hall, each blocked with its own corroded iron door.

Except for one. One cell's door stood open, having simply fallen open with age. Link crept closer, stepping over the porcelain doll. In the barely perceptible light that was now pervading the hall, he could make out dark smears on the walls. _It that blood? That's impossible! This prison's been empty for hundreds of years…_

Something was slumped against the far wall. Link recoiled, heart hammering. A moment later, he flinched as Midna flicked his ear. "Stop wasting time," she whispered. "The sooner we get out of here, the better."

Link nodded, refusing to take his eyes off the desiccated corpse in the corner of the cell. "Get over it!" Midna hissed. "It's a dead guy. He can't hurt you now."

_I'm not so sure…_

In a fit of truly stupid curiosity, he focused his senses on the cell.

He immediately wished he hadn't. What he saw chilled him to the bone.

A sound from behind him made his head snap around, lupine pupils dilating. The sound came again, and again. _Footsteps,_ Link realized.

The footsteps came closer, coming close to reaching the hallway. A deep primal fear took hold of Link's senses, and he turned tail, sprinting down the corridor as fast as he could, farther into the prison. As he ran, he found more bodies, slumped against walls and doors in varying poses of distress. All seemed to have made an attempt to escape.

All seemed to have just been thrown into the cells and left to rot. The footsteps pursued him relentlessly, now accompanied with a ceaseless whispering.

His frantic mind flashed back to what he'd seen in the cell. A man, simply standing there, beside his corpse. His hands had been torn to strips of flayed flesh on bone, the result of clawing at the wall to escape. And he had been staring – no, _glaring _at Link. An intense, unsettlingly direct stare, one that said _Why are you here?_

Midna moaned in fear and clung to Link's back, wrapping her arms more firmly around his neck.

Link skidded to a halt as he entered a wide, dimly lit chamber. The footsteps and whispers stopped, as suddenly as they appeared.

He glanced behind him, flanks heaving. His paw almost shaking too much to control, he raised it to eye level, pads splayed, the signal for Midna to revert him to human form.

She complied, making the shadow crystal vanish with a flick of her wrist.

Link raised a trembling hand to his face, struggling to control his breathing. "We shouldn't be here," he finally managed. "We're not welcome."

Midna set her face in a defiant snarl. "Well, too bad! We have to find the Mirror! If whoever's here doesn't like it, they'll just have to suck it up!"

"Midna, quiet," Link hissed, blood draining from his face.

Midna fell silent, eyes darting around the chamber. "Do you hear that?" Link whispered.

Straining chords floated through the air, almost too low to hear. The sound of someone singing.

Link's breath fogged the air in front of him, puffing out with his quickening breath. Minda clung to his shoulder, floating behind him slightly.

The singing slowly grew louder, until Link could make out individual words.

_When I lay me head back down to sleep_

_I know she waits at home…_

Link drew his sword, the blade in his hand lending him little comfort. His breath fogged noticeably in front of him, the moisture subliming into ice crystals. The temperature had dropped noticeably, to the point where his breath was actually frosting onto the sword.

_She'll wait 'till I come back to her_

_No matter where I roam…_

"Who's there?" Link shouted, teeth chattering, not entirely from the cold.

The voice cut off abruptly. Link flinched, heart pounding.

A gut-wrenching scream tore from the other end of the room, and an insubstantial shape charged toward the horrified warrior. Only the faintest outline could be seen, although the footprints it left in the sand were plain to see.

Link screamed in terror, throwing himself to the side. The thing passed right through the spot he'd previously occupied, melting into the wall as if it wasn't even there.

The thing's scream stopped the instant it collided with the wall, but the chamber was far from silent. The echoes of the scream continued to rebound off the walls, assailing him from every angle. Whispers began to swirl around the room, slowly building.

Link shrank back, recoiling from the accusing voices echoing throughout the ancient structure. _You don't belong here,_ they said.

Link whimpered, thumping against the cold stone wall. _Leave us in peace_.

The voices swelled to a fever pitch, screaming accusations. _GET OUT!_

"Enough!" Link howled, covering his eyes. The voices ceased, falling to the brush of autumn leaves on the ground.

Link lowered his arm, breathing raggedly. Midna wasn't even hiding in his shadow, preferring to cling to his shoulder and whimper in terror.

His cobalt eyes searched the chamber, desperately searching for a way out. And yet he couldn't shake the feeling that he was still not alone. Indeed, the silence was becoming oppressive, closing in on all sides, like…

_Like the grave._

Link reached back and closed his hand around Midna's. She immediately understood and gestured. Moments later, the sharp curve of the shadow crystal bit into his palm.

The feeling was even more evident as he sank to his paws in wolf form, panting. Now he could see something in front of him, something that was both there and not there at the same time. It was waiting, he realized. Waiting for him to see it.

A horrifying thought shot through his head. _They might not let me leave._

Link shook the thought free and focused his senses, wishing to finally confront the being responsible for his torment.

The being seemed to instantly notice the second Link focused his lupine senses, and seized the element of surprise by lunging forward and howling, a bone-splitting pitch that shook the mortar of the stones above.

Link howled in primal terror, feeling his sanity begin to slip away. The spirit's twisted visage was a mockery of life, twisted beyond recognition. It was almost as if the spirit had forgotten what a living being looked like.

But the worst part was its eyes. The blank, lifeless orbs stared into his very soul, laying him bare. _I know you,_ the eyes said. _I know you well._

Link fought to tear his gaze away from those soulless pits, but found he couldn't. Something held him fast. As if from far off, he could hear Midna screaming in terror.

_You disturb our sleep,_ the eyes screamed. _You refuse to leave._

He was faintly aware that Midna was tugging at his foreleg, as a blisteringly cold gale blasted through the room.

Link felt himself falling into those eyes, until they were all he could see. _Now,_ they said, _You will join us._

Link threw back his head and howled as the eyes flashed, tearing into his consciousness with all the force of a battering ram. He felt his sanity, his thoughts, his memory, everything he was, falling under the onslaught. But he could still see the eyes. Those expressionless, emotionless, yet silently accusing eyes.

"Link! Link, get up!"

Link. That was his name. And get up…meant he was supposed to get to his feet. His limbs swung unsteadily, almost beyond his control. He tried shaking his head to clear it.

He glanced around. They were lying at the very entrance to the Arbiter's Grounds, a massive desert behind them. _Free,_ he thought. _Free at last._

"Link, what are you doing? We have to keep moving!"

He glanced over. Midna. That was her name. She was…his companion.

He nodded, grating a reply.

My, but this body was difficult to control. Far more difficult than he remembered it being. It seemed he had to force his limbs to do his bidding.

But all of that didn't matter. He was free. And no-one would stop him.

Midna frowned as Link rounded on her. "Link, what are you-"

He cut her off forever as he slammed a knife into the side of her neck. The Twili collapsed to the ground without a sound, blood spurting through her fingers.

Link stood above her, hand wet with her blood, and inhaled deep of this open air. Life was sweet indeed.

He turned and walked away, a spring in his step, singing a jaunty tune.

_When I lay me head back down to sleep,_

_I know she waits at home._

_She'll wait 'till I come back to her,_

_No matter where I roam…_


End file.
